News from our grads
Robyn in The Solomon Islands
I first thought of doing a TESOL course when my husband and I wanted
to work overseas again. I thought: "there's no point sitting around
waiting for a job to come along, do something
about it and make it happen."
I saw a Teach International ad in the newspaper and looked up the information on the website. I made the phone call and enrolled both my husband and I into the course.
The course taught me how to set a lesson plan, find resources, call on my life skills and then present them to a class. It gave me the confidence to walk into a classroom and teach my native language.
Four months after completing the course my husband
and I headed off to China to Xianyang City, Shaansi
Province. I had approximately 100 quiet and shy
students per class! I soon learnt to throw off
my inhibitions and get the students to both laugh
with and at me so they would relax and interact in English. After six
enjoyable, challenging, interesting and dusty months my husband was asked
to join a project in the Solomon Islands. So we said our sad goodbyes
and made promises to come back after the project in the Solomon Islands
was finished.
We arrived in the Honiara in the Solomon Islands to a welcome of warm balmy breezes and high humidity, betel nut chewing, lots of rubbish, and smiling brown faces. My husband went to work on his project and I went to meet a group of expatriate and local ladies at a morning tea who showed me around the area. One of the ladies was the Principal of the local international school. I was telling her of my experiences in China and some of the ideas I used for getting the students talking. She said I sounded like just the person they needed for their language section. I now teach children of all levels, ages and nationalities. I have children from the Solomon Islands, Korea, Thailand, and China. I also have Australian children who need some help catching up with the rest of the class. The different nationalities have varying pronunciation problems so I have broken them up into small groups so I can concentrate on the individual needs. It does mean lots of different lesson plans, but I can use the same lesson and resources with some of the groups, just presented in different ways.
The challenges of this beautiful, friendly country
are the unreliable travel, electricity, water
supply, hygiene and lack of resources for my
classes and Melanesian time. But all of these
things are balanced by the beautiful tropical
islands with warm crystal clear seas, coral reefs
and abundant fish - great for diving, snorkelling
and relaxing.
My advice to anyone thinking of teaching in the Pacific Islands is to be flexible, don't be put off by bad media coverage, and don't come with the expectations of facilities being the same as your own country. But do come to teach, to learn, to experience and enjoy the country, people and culture. Accept the country for what it is as we can learn much from each other. Going to the market to buy my local fruit and vegetables is a fun way to interact with the local people, taste local food and learn the local Pijin language.
I will keep teaching and travelling for a few more years to experience different cultures and countries. The world is so diverse. I thank technology and the Internet for communication with my children, grandchildren and families for without it I wouldn't be doing what I am today. Images courtesty of Robyn Hesling
Robyn Hesling - Brisbane graduate
